Dragons 2 Lose at Home to Strong Bankers Team
The addition of our Scottish Internationalist, Hamish Olsen, helped reduce the grade imbalance for the Dragons second team against Division 1 leaders, Bank of Scotland 1. However it was not enough and the dragons lost 4½-1½ on a night where there were big grade differences on every board, with only 1 favouring the Dragons.
| Wandering Dragons 2 | 1½‑4½ | Bank of Scotland 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Olson, Hamish (2297) | ½‑½ | Bennett, William (2023) |
| O`Neil, Jim (1824) | 0‑1 | Chisholm, Mike (1919) |
| Carter, Richard (1796) | 0‑1 | Mollison, Jamie (1899) |
| Brownlee, Ian (1676) | 0‑1 | Chapman, Nigel (1829) |
| Tope, Bryan (1609) | 0‑1 | Lamarque, Hugh (1827) |
| Walkowiak, Adam (1563) | 1‑0 | Baumanis, Kristaps (1720) |
On top board a former dragon, William Bennett, showed he still has some Dragon skills left and held Hamish to a draw. On the black side of a Two Knights Defence, Hamish missed the absolute best defence (15...c5 intending to defend g7 by interposing a rook on d4) after which William had a chance at a moderate advantage (according to the computer) but instead forced a repetition.
On board 2, Jim (right in the picture) played Mike Chisholm, whom he had beaten twice last season. Jim attacked, sacrificing pawns, but failed to find the winning solution in time trouble.
Board 3, 4 and 5 went with grade to BoS, despite some chances for our guys. Adam, on 6, was the star of the evening - busting a 150+ points difference to take the win. In a wild Benko Gambit there were tactical errors on both sides, the last of which resulted in the black queen getting trapped.
The first half of the season has been a disappointment for the team, who despite some good performances, have not got the results they deserve.
Meanwhile, in club championship games, Elliot defeated Lee in an offbeat line of the French Winawer and Neil beat Michael in a Sämisch KID.